|
New book on slavery routes and oral traditions in
South-eastern Africa
28 February 2006: With support from UNESCO Maputo, Dr. Benigna Zimba has been contacting local people in
Mozambique, Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania living in
the places were the slaves were embarked only a few
generations ago. This has resulted in the book entitled
“Slave Routes and Oral Tradition in South-Eastern
Africa”.
Dr. Benigna Zimba
presenting the book at University Eduardo Mondlane.
Photo: Nina Bull Jørgensen,UNESCO |
During the launch of the book at the University
of Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, Dr. Benigna was showing
pictures and maps of the sites were the slaves were
stored and embarked, and she was presenting local people
and their stories about slave trade, which have been
told by their forefathers and kept alive through strong
oral traditions in this part of the world.
The book is produced within the framework of a UNESCO
initiated project, launched in 1994 at the First Session
of the International Scientific Committee of the Slave
Route in Benin. In 2001 Mozambique had the honor of
launching and implementing the pilot project on
Slave Trade and Oral Tradition in Southern and
Eastern Africa including the countries of
Mozambique, Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania - in
cooperation with UNESCO’s Officers for culture,
National Commissions for UNESCO and other relevant
authorities of the countries concerned. |
The main objective of the project was to collect,
archive and exploit data of the oral tradition related
to the Transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trade and
slavery in the South-Eastern Africa region. After some
initial difficulties, the project got a boost with the
International Conference in Maputo in March 2004. The
conference gathered well recognized scientists from
Africa, America and Asia to discuss the objectives and
strategy of the project, and to select the most
significant papers to be published – The result of this
is among others the book “Slave Routes and Oral
Tradition in South-Eastern Africa” written by Prof.
Benigna Zimba, the scientific coordinator of the project.
A 30 min DVD with the same title is also available.
As a result of the well done work by Prof. Zimba on this
project, UNESCO has nominated her to be the
Vice-President of the International Scientific Committee
for Slave Routes Project in Africa. Prof. Zimba will be
UNESCO’s focal point on this matter in Africa.
The project on slavery routes continues
The publishing of the Slave Routes Book is not the end
of this project. UNESCO is in close contact with the
experts and scientists dealing with the Slave Routes, to
examine the results and stake out the way forward of the
project. The second phase of the project will draw on
lessons learnt from the first ten years, respond to the
recommendations from an external evaluation report, and
also respond to the expectations expressed by Members
States during the International Year for the
Commemoration of the Fight Against Slavery and its
Abolition. The project will be geographically expanded
to include the slave trade in the Arab Muslim world,
Asia and the Andes. And new themes will be introduced,
for example the psychological consequences of slavery,
and the fight against racism and discrimination.
In the second phase of the project UNESCO aims to:
-
Raise awareness on
the contribution made by Africa to the rest of the world,
as well as the contribution made of populations of afro
descent to the evolution of their host countries and
their countries of origin during waves of “return to the
source”.
-
Develop a curricula and
pedagogical material for educational programmes on the
slave issue.
-
Promote living cultures
and artistic and spiritual expressions generated by the
slave trade.
-
Preserve archives and
oral traditions – to conserve, disseminate and promote
these oral traditions.
-
Preserve tangible
heritage, for example by making inventories and maps of
important historical sites, by elaborating itineraries
of memory to promote cultural tourism, and by inscribing
sites on the UNESCO Worlds heritage list.
-
Secure the involvement
of younger researchers and explore new angles of the
subject.
UNESCO make great efforts
to break the silence around the slave trade, making the
subject universally known; focusing especially on the
interactions between the peoples concerned in Europe,
Africa and the Caribbean. Only by remembering the past,
you can build a better future. UNESCO ultimately aims to
achieve the universal objective of building Peace on
Earth – with societies characterized by tolerance,
understanding and non-discrimination.
For more information contact Ofelia Da Silva, Programme
Officer, UNESCO Maputo Culture Sector
Ofelia da Silva or
Nina Bull Jørgensen,
Communications officer tel:
(00258)-21493434
|
